Home
by TweedleDuh
Summary: What happened after Felicity walked away? Oliver is home but what happened next? My take... trying to give Oliver some love! Set between 3x12 and 3x13 OneShot. (I'm rusty.. this is just for fun... no Beta to be seen!)


Hello guys... Its been a long time since i wrote anything. There were a lot of obstacles and issues. I still have ideas and have been writing things but can't seem to finish. I'm sorry. But I really had a bit of a muse going and just let the fingers fly.

I felt like last weeks episode was severely lacking when it came to the reunion at the end. Not to mention anyone even asking how Oliver was feeling after literally almost dying.

Heres my version of what might have happened after Felicity walked away. Enjoy! and Hopefully this awesome show that i love will stop making me so mad. Pretty much the only one i'm not mad at after tonights episode is Diggle.

* * *

Oliver watched as Felicity kept walking away from him. To say his heart was breaking was an understatement. He felt like he'd been stabbed again by Ra's blade, only this time straight through his crumbling heart.

He wanted to explain... to stop her and make her understand that he WAS doing this for the women he loved! He was taking a chance trusting Merlyn to protect his only sister and to keep Felicity safe from anything the League of Assassins had up their sleeves! He didn't want to work with Merlyn... he HAD to. It was something he had to accept and hoped his friends… family... would understand.

He'd never forget what that monster did. To him or his family! And it was BECAUSE of Malcolm Merlyn that he HAD to do what he swore he never would. He had hoped that Felicity would have understood that and gave him a chance to explain it. But she stormed off in a huff before he could pick the pieces of his broken heart up off of the pavement.

Once Felicity was out of view, Oliver let out a huge breath he didn't realize he was holding and turned to head back to the foundry's back door.

He'd only gone a few steps when everything finally hit him. His next breath hitched in his throat as the next step he took generated a strong pain up his left leg into his still injured side and vibrated roughly into his stab wounds. Oliver stopped his progress to the back door and bent a little forward, trying to catch his breath before he continued forward.

He knew he'd done more then he should have. The injuries he had were more than life threatening. He was pretty much dead when Maseo found him. The only luck he'd had in the whole ordeal was that the cold temperatures kept him from bleeding out and the softness of the snow broke his fall. At least he avoided breaking his back.

He was pretty sore when he got back to Starling, but adrenaline had kept him going. He was slightly limping, compensating from the pain in his side and the effort it took to speak made him sound hoarse. All things he could easily deal with. But he was feeling it now. The trek down the hill and back to civilization was bad enough. Pulling back the bow had strained at his wounds more then he anticipated and what did him in was his dramatic exit after his speech. Hanging onto the bow as he flew passed the crowd might as well have officially done him in.

Oliver didn't know where he had gotten the energy to get back to the foundry and change before the gang got back so that he could run over and check on Thea. Maybe it was from the deep desperate need to see the people he loved again. But where ever he pulled that energy from it was way passed empty.

His chest was burning; the growing throb through his body would be hard to explain to anyone who hadn't been run through with a blade. He felt it in his chest, his back, inside… everywhere. Tatsu would be yelling at him right now for his stupidity.

But it couldn't be helped. In an ideal world he would have come home to his family and friends who were happy to see him. He would be able to rest and catch up with them and just over all enjoy their presence. Instead he came home to a battle in the Glades.

What Felicity didn't take into account, as she cut him down in the Alley way, was that he missed them just as much as they missed him. He'd argue that it was even more so. He was in pain and scared, though he'd never admit the last part, and needed his family. Sometimes people forgot that The Arrow was human… even the people closest to him.

Oliver finally looked up from the ground when the back door swung open and Diggle stepped out. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out there trying to catch his breath but apparently it was long enough for John to get worried and come out looking for them.

"Oliver?" he called out looking up and down the alley. Oliver stood still; hand on one thigh, almost bent over at the waist. He was starting to lose control of his balance as it became harder and harder to take deep breathes. The pain was controlling him now.

"Dig..." he half whispered before putting his other hand on his other thigh to try and keep himself upright. The last thing he needed tonight was to land face first in the back alley of a club. Those days were long over for him.

"Oliver!" Dig caught sight of his friend who was clearly in distress and ran to him. Without thinking, he instinctively wrapped an arm around his back right at the exit wound trying to help keep Oliver from taking a nose dive onto the wet pavement. Oliver cried out at the feeling of pressure on his injuries and started going forward, finally losing complete control of his body.

Lucky for him, John Diggle had pretty good reflexes. He threw himself forward, catching Oliver with his other arm and slid his hand around to keep Oliver from off the ground, both of his arms under his friends armpits, trying to avoid where he thought the healing wounds were.

Oliver put his forehead on Digs shoulder and was working on trying to get his breath back. He still hadn't found it yet. Every attempt became more and more painful.

"Come on… let me help you. We have to get you down and I'm not putting you on this filthy ground."

He could feel a slight nod on his shoulder and took that as a cue to try and sling one of Oliver's arms over his shoulder to help keep him up and mobile.

It was a tough few more steps to the door but they made it inside. Once the door was secure behind them, Diggle gave Oliver a second before they made an attempt to get to the bed Felicity had gotten him. He was grateful there were no stairs at this level and would have to remember to thank Felicity for "Getting some air" out the back door instead of through the club upstairs.

John took in Oliver's features, trying to dictate how bad the situation was as he wanted to give his friend a few seconds. The Archer was pale and clearly trying not to zone out. He'd have to hurry.

"Ready?"

But Dig didn't wait for any sort of answer. He moved them forward as fast as he thought they were able. He could feel his friend's body start to shake from the pain and exertion. It wouldnt be long before it completely gave out and he'd rather not have to completely carry Oliver the rest of the way.

Diggle felt Oliver sag against him more on their trek to the bed. "Hold on there man… just a few more steps."

Oliver was seeing black spots in his vision and no matter how much he tried he just couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to pass out. But he tried anyways to get his feet to move. They dragged and stumbled under him till finally they made it to the edge of the bed and Diggle gentle sat him down on the edge.

"What's wrong Oliver... what hurts!?"

Oliver grimaced from the stab wound in his side. Sitting was not good.

"Back... lay back... " he wheezed out and started to lean back. Dig caught on and helped gently ease him so he was lying on the bed. His legs hung off the side in a jumble.

"Oliver... don't check out yet man. I need you to tell me what's going on."

Diggle's nerves were at their peak. They just got him back. Literally only minutes ago! He hadn't had a chance to find out what actually happened and how bad he was hurt. He looked pretty tired and he would have to be blind not to notice the limp. He should have demanded to know how he was before he even said a word. If the bloodied sword was an indication.. it probably wasn't good. But he was just so happy to see him that he didn't think of anything else. Not until he saw him in that Alleyway.

Oliver was blinking hard trying to keep conscious. "Two… stab… wou… nds." It burned so much trying to take in enough air just to try and breath so trying to talk was even worse. He tried to raise his arms just a bit to point to where the injuries where.

Diggle watched as Oliver pointed to his left side near his hip and his right hand half resting just below his ribs. "Ok... Any exit wounds?"

"B... Back..." He tried to lift his forearm enough to point behind his right shoulder but his limbs started to give up cooperating and he let them flop back to the bed.

"My... bag. Anti… biotics."

"Ok Buddy. I'm going to check things out. It might hurt. But one last question... ok?" Diggle was becoming very concerned with how fast Oliver's condition deteriorated. He was starting to debate whether or not he should be taking Oliver to an actual hospital. He still had no idea what he was dealing with. What if Oliver was bleeding internally? He was a pretty good medic in the field… but he was no surgeon.

"Is this from over exertion or do you think something worse. I trust your judgment."

He knew Oliver had been through a lot in his life. Lots of pain, broken bounds, burns, muscle pulls. Diggle was more than sure that The Archer knew his own body.

"Pain. Did... too... much."

Diggle breathed a little easier with that answer and continued. "Ok. I lied. More questions. Have you taken any pain meds recently?"

Oliver finally closed his eyes. "No..."

"How long."

"48"

"Hours!?"

Oliver's chin nodded down and then Diggle saw the exact moment when his friend finally succumbed to the Darkness. It was better anyways. He didn't want to hurt him more checking him out.

Diggle grabbed Oliver's legs that were still off the bed and twisted him as gently as he could so he was resting all the way on the bed. Then he turned around and went to get the first aid kit and some pain meds and antibiotics. Lord only knew what kind of antibiotics Oliver had been taking up on that hill. And no pain meds in 48 hours?! After everything Oliver did tonight and what his body was trying to recover from… it was no wonder his friend fell fast.

He was starting to regret telling Roy to go home. He could really Use some help for the next part. He wasn't sure what he would find when he removed Oliver's shirt. He was actually scared to even look. Knowing Oliver, a half assed patch up job is what he expected.

Diggle set to work. Removing Oliver's jacket took some tough maneuvering, having to lift his friend back into a sloppy sitting position to get his arms out of the sleeves. Once he had the jacket off he decided he could work around the shirt. Diggle pulled it up gently and slowly. The bandage on Oliver's left side was first. He didn't see any spotting from possible bleeding underneath and John felt his shoulders relax a little at the discovery.

As gently as he could, John peeled back the gauze. It certainly was an "In the field" set up. The gauze was tattered but clean and it was held together not with tape but with some sort of substance that came right off with the bandage.

The wound was made by a blade. That was for sure. But it was healing very well. Its position was pretty crappy though and it certainly would cause Oliver's limp as he compensated for the rubbing and pressure on it from his clothes and just the walking motion.

John cleaned it up and placed a new bandage back on it, securing it with medical tape. He knew the next part wouldn't be as easy. Diggle yanked the rest of Oliver's shirt up to expose his chest and the much bigger bandage just under his ribs on the right side.

This was the kill shot from Ra's Al Ghul. For a second John Diggle could not help but stop and stare at the placement on his friend. He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at the large sword sitting on the counter just a few paces away from them.

That thing went all the way into his friend and came out the other side. Oliver was more than lucky. He really should have been dead. It was damn miracle he was still with them at all.

Diggle continued his work and started to peel the makeshift bandage from the skin. There was some blood spotting on this one which didn't surprise John one bit. Three weeks was not enough time to heal from a wound like this and especially not enough time before shooting arrows and flying through the air.

Once John got the rest of the bandage away from the wound he stopped in his tracks again. The wound was angry and the stitches were strained. A thin line of blood trickled down and to Oliver's left side. The area was puffy… swollen… but no sign of infection. Whatever Oliver had been doing was doing its job at least.

John Diggle had been through a lot in his life… but it was never easy taking care of a hurt comrade or friend. He took great care in re-stitching the stab wound and with quickness and precision he patched him back up, taping a new bandage on.

John sat back for a second and stretched out his arms. Sitting sideways on the bed leaning forward was taking a toll on his body. He still needed to check Oliver's back before he got him hunkered down and comfortable for the night. This time he decided he'd kneel on the ground alongside the bed. All he'd need to do is tip Oliver onto his side. It was easier with Oliver unconscious.

John tipped his friend onto his side and pulled his shirt up to the spot he needed to get to. This wound was the best out of the three. All it needed was a little peroxide and a new bandage.

Diggle was just finishing up with the peroxide, dabbing away the excess so the tape would hold, when a noise behind him had him drop everything he was doing and grab for the gun in his waistband.

He twisted around; gun safety already clicked off and at the ready only to find a familiar face behind him. The noise he had heard was actually a gasp.

Felicity stood just a few feet away. Both hands were covering her mouth and her eyes were wide in surprise as they stared past Diggle to Oliver's back.

"Felicity… you scared me. What are you doing here?"

Felicity was shaken from her stare at John's voice and dropped her hands from her mouth, trying to pull herself together. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd seen Oliver's scars. But the new one was throwing her for a loop.

"I… I forgot my bag. I… Um… my phone… What's going on?"

John stood from the ground, his aching knees thankful for the position change as he turned back to look over Oliver. "He was in pain. Passed out. He's fine though."

"Oh… ok..." She went back to staring at the mark on Oliver's body. Diggle followed her eyes and inwardly thanked whatever god there was that she came in now and not when he was stitching up the entrance wound. It looked much worse than the one on his back. "Felicity he will be fine. He just overdid it. Go home and get some sleep. We had a busy night."

Felicity didn't move. She just kept staring at Oliver.

"I… Maybe I should… do you need any help?"

"No." Diggle was quick to respond with that question "Everything is fine. I promise. He just over did it tonight. Too much too soon."

When Felicity still didn't even acknowledge him he kept going. "Do you need a ride? I can call Roy…"

"NO… no… I'm fine. I just… Um… I was just talking to him."

Diggle could see the turn in the young ladies features. She was going from shock at what she found to sadness and guilt. It would be best that he get her out of there as fast as he could.

"I found him in the alley about to collapse. His body just couldn't take any more. But with a lot of rest and a chance to heal he'll be just fine."

"I didn't… talk… to him. Diggle I …"

"You argued." He answered matter-of-factly.

"Yea… well… no. Not really. It was more one sided."

This was going exactly how he didn't want it to. "Listen Felicity… This isn't your fault." Diggle waved a hand to Oliver lying in the bed unconscious. "He just did too much."

"It is my fault…"

"Felicity"

"No… I told him to kill Ra's. It's my fault." Tears sprung to her eyes and she took a shaky step forward. "Please don't tell me it's not my fault again. It is... I told him to go and kill Ra's. To break his code."

"He would have gone anyways."

"Maybe… yea... But I told him to go and kill again. I asked something so big of him and then… he didn't come back Diggle!"

"He DID come back. He's right here Felicity." John gently grabbed onto Felicity's upper arms, making her look at him as he spoke. "And no matter what you said to him he loves you"

Tears filled Felicity's eyes at Diggle's words and she shut them hard trying to hold them in. "I broke his heart... I told him I didn't want to be a woman he loved. I saw what I did to him just a few minutes ago. But I can't take it back. What I said was true. It's what I believe. I can't lose him again and this foolishness with this Ra's Al Ghul guy is going to get him killed... again! And I can't feel that pain again! I don't understand why he doesn't see how much his actions will hurt us! The danger it puts you and Roy and Laurel... all of us in trusting Malcolm!"

"Felicity... he doesn't trust Malcolm. I don't like it either but I understand why he's doing this. He needs to learn how to defeat that man so that we all can be safe. Not just himself... but all of us. Even the whole City.

"I know..." she whispered. "I know that" I just won't accept it's the only way."

Felicity finally cut the distance between her and Oliver and gently sat down on the bed along side of him. Her fingers ghosted over his skin near the most recent soon to be scar on his body.

"I didn't even ask him how he was... I was just so mad. I didn't think he could still be hurting. When I ran and hugged him I felt him tense up. I heard him make a small noise of pain. But it didn't register then. All I could think of was that I WAS holding him... a living breathing Oliver. But after he mentioned Malcolm, all I could see was red. All of the pain and heartache and anger I had over the last few weeks just rolled out of my body and at him."

Felicity finally looked up a Diggle, tears in her eyes. "But I don't take it back."

She paused a moment… looking at a spot on the floor. Her mouth opened again but nothing came out and a painful look came over her face. For a second Diggle thought she was going to start crying. But instead she mumbled words off her tongue that felt like acid in his ears.

"I don't think Oliver came back at all."

And with that she stood up from the bed and sighed heavily. "I'll let you finish up. I'm sorry to interrupt."

Felicity's demeanor suddenly went businesslike. Her face lost the look of all emotion. Stone cold.

"Felicity…" Diggle wasn't sure what to say but didn't have a chance to anyways.

"Please text me tomorrow and let me know how he is."

"I could have him call..."

"No... no. Just... Please don't tell him I was here and that I saw..." she gestured to Oliver with her hand before fluttering toward the stairs and taking her leave through the club instead this time.

She didn't look back.

Diggle watched her exit quickly and shook his head. These two kids were going to drive him insane.

Once he got back to it, he was done pretty quickly and had Oliver comfortable and covered with a blanket in no time. He took in his friends relaxed features, making sure his job was done for now before heading over to Felicity's work station. It was the most comfortable chair in the place so he plopped down into it and propped his feet up onto the edge of the counter top.

The gentle whirr of the generators in the building didn't help his tired eyes and exhausted brain and body. It wasn't long before he joined Oliver in some shut eye.

* * *

The first thing he noticed as awareness slowly came to him, was just how comfortable he was. It had been a long time since he'd woken up in a comfortable bed with pillows and blankets and an actual mattress. He almost didn't want to continue the waking up process until he felt the bed dip a bit. His reflexes couldn't help it and his eyes groggily opened to see who was now sitting next to him.

Diggle's smiling face came into his vision and Oliver couldn't help give the man a small smile back.

"Hey."

"Hey" Oliver replied in a husky gritty voice still influenced by sleep.

Diggle reached over for the glass of water he had ready sitting on the floor and handed it over to Oliver knowing full well The Arrow didn't approve of being hand fed. Oliver took it with gummy hands and sipped a good portion before handing it back over.

"So… passed out huh?" Oliver asked while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Sure did. Which was a blessing for what I had to do to you next" Oliver looked up at Diggle and the two locked eyes. His friend now knew the extent of his injuries and the seriousness of the situation.

"How'd it all look?" Diggle grimaced at the question.

"Have you not been looking?"

The younger man shrugged a bit. "I do… but I don't. Looking at it makes me remember it. I never want to relive choking on my own blood again."

"That doesn't sound very pleasant." Roy's voice filled the Arrow Cave as his footsteps made it to the last step and onto the floor. Diggle turned to look at Roy while Oliver took the new arrival as an opportunity and worked on pulling himself up into more of a sitting position against the pillows.

"What's going on?" Roy's eyebrows fused together in concern at seeing Oliver lying in the bed.

"Nothing. Oliver is just resting." Diggle smiled in Roy's direction, trying just a bit to ease any possible worry or tension. Oliver was fine. NO sense in worrying the young man.

"Resting? You ok?" Roy asked while walking closer to the bed.

"Well He's been run through with an insanely large sword. How do you think he feels Roy?" Laurel's voice filled the room as she came in from the back door and walked up to stand alongside the bed Oliver was lying on.

"Wow... It's suddenly a party." Oliver comment was light and every smiled at the attempt at humor especially since they knew he must not be feeling too well.

"I wanted to come in early to check in. Last night still feels a bit like a dream."

Laurel couldn't take her eyes off Oliver. They may not be together anymore but she still loved him. He was family. "Same thing actually... just wanted to check in before I went to the office."

"I'm fine guys." The archer looked up into his friends eyes to try and prove it.

They just weren't buying it. Especially Roy.

"Says the man lying in the bed looking kinda pale and tired."

"It was a long road back here to Starling." Oliver then looked up a Diggle and gave him a gentle grateful smile. "I may have overdone it."

Diggle smiled back and patted Oliver's knee before standing up to dispose of the water and give Oliver some space. "Maybe a little" he said as he walked away.

Oliver took Diggle getting up as his opportunity to move. He hated lying prone and vulnerable under watchful stares of his friends. He tossed the blanket off of his legs before dragging them slowly off the bed and planting his feet on the floor. His body wasn't a huge fan of sitting upright at the moment. His injuries ached and his head pounded out his ears. He now wished he stayed in his comfy spot a bit longer. He put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees and tried to rub the soreness out from around his eyes.

"We didn't bother to check and see if you were ok after everything yesterday. I'm sorry man. We were just so happy to see you back it didn't occur to me until later just how much you'd gone through." Roy paused to glance over at the still blood covered sword before turning back. He made eye contact with Laurel before looking back to the floor and shoving his hands in his pockets. Roy was never good at expressing feelings. Laurel decided to help Roy out.

"What Roy is trying to say is... we are very glad you are back. We missed you... All of us. This place wasn't the same without you. Our lives weren't the same Ollie."

Oliver pulled his face out of his hands and lifted his head to look at his friends. All three stood in a semi circle around him looking at him with grateful and excited eyes. It's the first time since he came back that he felt home again. When he got back to the Apartment, Malcolm Merlyn was there and any sense of home was gone the second he walked in the door. When he got back to the Lair it immediately turned to hell as well. Oliver couldn't stop himself from smiling back at his friends. And this time it was bigger then he'd planned.

"Thanks guys. It's good to be back."

There was a pleasant pause before Laurel broke the silence.

"Well I better get going to the office. But I'll stop by later ok?"

"Yea ok..."

Oliver watched Laurel turn to walk away but stopped her progress.

"Laurel..."

"Yea?"

"We are going to need to talk... sooner rather than later."

"... I know." Her smile faded a bit as she turned and headed back out of the foundry the way that she came in.

A ding went off in the background and Diggle turned from the other two and walked over to Felicity's works station to retrieve his phone.

Roy took a step closer and sighed "Listen... I am sorry about Felicity. She will come around."

Oliver sighed openly and shook his head. "I don't know about that."

"Well... We voted yesterday on whether we would work with Merlyn to help stop Brick. Turns out he's the one who killed Merlyn's wife."

"Yea. I gathered that when I ran into them out on the street last night."

Roy nodded before continuing. "Well I had a talk with Thea. She told me that Merlyn saved her the night she left Starling. She saw something in him. Something good. So for Thea I was willing to give him a chance. I understand wanting justice. And I understand that a person can change. But… just… be careful ok?"

"I don't want to do it Roy. I have to. I was no match for Ra's and its just pure dumb luck that I made it out of that alive. But I did... and he will come back to finish it. If he can't get to me he will go after people that I love."

Oliver paused a moment before pulling himself to his feet. It was painful and not at all easy to do but he stood strong and looked Roy in the eyes.

"I will sacrifice anything to not let that happen. Even if that means working with the devil."

Roy nodded with no hesitation. "I'm with you."

Diggle stepped back over and put a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Well then let's start with you resting some more so you can get better quicker and go back out to kick some ass."

Oliver looked at Roy but smirked with amusement at Diggle's attempt at mother henning some more. "I suppose i could take a couple days off."

"You deserve it brother. The crime will still be there when you can stand up without groaning."

Oliver responded with a nod and slowly sat back down onto the bed. It was still warm from his body heat and his decision to try and take more time to heal felt better and better. He watched as Roy and Diggle went about there daily routines. Cleaning weapons, checking new feeds for any problems. It all felt so… normal.

He felt himself take a deep breath. It felt good to be able to breath easy again. Not just from is body finally getting some rest, but from his heart feeling full again.

It was going to be a long road back. But he had his team… no… his family to help him.

And thats all he needed.


End file.
